Electric-lighting switch



July 19, 1949. J. REID 2,476,768

ELECTRIC LIGHTING SWITCH Filed July 30, 1946 l [nz/e7? 21'02": z/Om f. He l' of Patented July 19, -1949 n fsrAriEs RAe-fen fos-Fica 2,476,763 ELECTRIC-LIGHTINGSWHOH salmi. Reid, Ynrk, ra.

Application July so, 1946,-ser1a1ino-ssms7 (o1. ecc-:156i

2 Claims.

My .inventionrelates to V:an electric switch "for light circuits which .is neat in appearance, .of simple y,construction Aand accordingly is of flow cost iin :manufacturing It is a single button switch suitable for houses and buildings of all kinds, in the wall-s of which it can be inserted so as to be practically invisible,

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawing in which like numerals refer to the same details in the diierent views.

Figure 1 is a vertical section of the switch taken at right angles to a wall in which the switch button is located;

Figure 2 is a transverse section on a plane along line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a face View of a stationaryor backing disk to which the positive and negative conductors are directly connected.

All the working parts of the switch are enclosed in the housing II! which may be made of thin metal-plate or plastic.

This hou-sing I is provided with a face plate I I which is ilush with the building wall I2 fastened by wood screws where the switch button I3 is located. This button I3 ts slidably in a tubular neck I4 which forms an extension from the housing I0 and in which a shoulder I5 is provided engaging the button collar I6 for retaining the push button I3 in place flu-sh with the face plate II as pushed outwardly by the main spring I'I. The latter abuts with its inner end against a shelf I8 in the casing I0.

At I9 in the button I3 is pivoted in pendulum manner, an actuating rod 2li for the switch, an opening 2l being provided in the shelf I8 permitting wide oscillations of the rod 20 for operating the switch. The rod 2li has a sideways directed foot portion 22 the use of which will be described later.

The switch proper consists of a pair of disks 23, 24. The disk 24 is of insulating material and the two disks are mounted close together, one in front of the other, see Figure 2. Disk 24 is circular and attached to the side wall of the casing I0. 0n the face of disk 24 are provided two short, seg-mental contact plates 25, 26 of copper or other conductive material in diametrically opposite position and slightly raised above the disk surface. These plates have wire connections with a source of electric current; that r is plate 25 with the negative pole and 26 with the positive pole for instance. These contact plates form arcs of a circle in which insulator segments 21, 28 are also located.

The second switch disk 23 is of current conducting material andfis etsen-1ere` con-tour `with projecting teeth 29 of non-conducting material at each corner ilocated ffin the @path :of the foot 22A on fthe: actuating .frod 23. 'Ihefdisks 32 3, 2'4 Yare placed Icolarse 'ttogethernnfthe same axial :spindle one position of the revolving disk 23 and between the segments 33 and 34, while the line is broken in another position.

At each corner of the square revolving disk 23 is formed a lug or tooth of insulation material 38 which is integral therewith and flat faced and pointed. The relative location of a tooth 29 and the presser foot 22, with the parts in idle position, is such that the foot 22 abuts against a tooth 29 at a point slightly above the center line, Figure 1, it being assumed that the disk revolves counterclockwise as indicated by arrow Y. In this position no current is passing because the insulating segments 35, 36 contact with the insulating segments 21, 28, the disks being pressed together by the coiled spring 3| at the end of the spindle 30.

If now the button I3 is depressed in its bearing I4, against the main spring I'I, Vthe actuating rod 20, pivoted at I9 in the button will swing upward, as shown in;y dot-and-dash lines, as guided vby the nearest tooth 29, which is slightly off center. Continued pressure on the button will thereupon swing disk 23 a quarter turn soV that the metal segments 33, 34 register with the metal segments 25, 26 on the nxed disk 24 thereby making electric connection. Upon then releasing the button, the disk 23 will remain in'set position, held by spring 3| until the button is again depressed, thereby turning disk 23 another quarter turn and opening the circuit. Thus alternately and step by step, current will be switched on and o.

The diameter of the main spring has to be large enough to permit the full swing of the pendulum rod 20 during operation.

It i-s to be understood that the invention as' herein disclosed may be varied from the details described and shown without departure from the spirit of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. An electric circuit switch, comprising a housing, a pin secured at one end to a wall of the housing to extend into the center thereof, a pair of disks supported in juxtaposition on said pin, one disk being circular and secured to the pin against rotation, said one disk being of insulation material, the other disk being of polygonal peripheral outlinewhereby areprovided Va, series of corners, a lug projecting outwardly from each of said corners, said other disk beingrotatable on the pin, a spring means encircling the pin between said other disk and the other end of the t pin and connected to the said other end of thepin to yieldingly press the disks together, corresponding electric current conduoting and nonconducting segments on adjacent surfaces of said disks for alternate connection upon rotation of the said other disk, and an actuating means for the rotatable disk supported for reciprocation toward and successive engagement with said lugs. v

2. An electric circuit'switch of the character stated in claim 1, in which said actuating means comprises a button supported for reciprocation REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the l'lle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 573,807 BoardmanA Dec. 22, 1896 '775,055 Waterman Nov. 15, 1904 1,101,064 Dana June 23, 1914 1,629,397 Lewis et a1 May 17, 1927 1,656,627 Giebel Jan. 17, 1928 

